Canadaland
Rolling Stirling Hart on beautiful Grouse Mountain
Ever have one of those weeks you never want to end? I am in absolute heaven. The day on Grouse Mountain was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. A day of log rolling, good friends, sunshine, and a beautiful mountain… great memories were made. Of course all of the guys kicked my butt log rolling (it was a coed competition) but thanks to a great win by JR, team America took the title on Canada Day. :) After the contest Brian and I had a great run to the peak (talk about burning lungs!) then we slid down the snowy mountainside in our running shoes. I was sun burnt (opps) and playing in the snow… too much fun!
That night Jody, the producer of the Grouse Mountain show, hosted a killer party for the lumberjacks at his beautiful house. The evening was filled with great conversation, singing around the campfire, a mean steak on the grill, and some hot tubbing. I crashed early, but from what I hear those guys got pretty crazy later on. Drunk lumberjacks getting crazy? Unheard of.
Once we got the hung-over birthday boy (JR) up and ready (by around noon) I dropped him off at Grouse and headed over to watch Jason cross the finish line on stage 5 of the BC Bike Race. I had to hop a ferry over to their finish line and while on the ferry got a call that he had already finished. Good news for him, but I was bummed I missed it! I basically turned around on the same ferry with the cyclists and got to hear exciting stories of crashes, cramping, and downhill giggling. We then had a beautiful drive on the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish. I got to observe first hand the craziness of a bike race as large as this one. Hunting for the right bag out of hundreds of identical ones, the sprint for a perfect tent, sorting through piles of sweaty jerseys, and selecting the perfect amount of gels and bars were all part of the insanity. Luckily I had a car and was able to wisk (steal) Jason away from his friends. My fitness diet took a back seat for an evening and we had an incredible dinner with an even better view. We then went to visit world champion 24 hour cyclist Chris Eatough and joined him and the Trek gang for some crazy waterslide action. Yes folks, I got to play on a waterslide with some of the hottest and best mountain bikers in the world. Life is good. Early to bed so the boys could continue their insanity early the next morning.
Jason getting ready to kick some ass in Squamish
Cycling folks are all absolutely amazing. Everybody at the bike race was so kind and welcoming to me, and even though I had no clue what was going on, they took me in and made me feel like part of the gang. After the race started, I went with a group of them up into the mountain to watch the guys pass at several different points. This also involved a lot of hiking with the most incredible views. In fact, the last time I saw anything this beautiful was when I hiked in Canada 12 years ago. It was great finally getting to see Jason do his thing, and really hold his own among the world’s top mountain bikers. BUT once again I was lollygagging and missed his cross at the finish line. This once again is a good thing because it means he had a killer time, but I was still extreamly disappointed to miss it. Guess I’ll have to go to another race…
After good byes, I drove back to Vancouver to meet up with my lumberjack folk. God I love these guys. We’ve only been on the road to Washington for a few hours, and I’ve already laughed to the point of needing the restroom about five times. Tomorrow we compete in Longview. Against the guys again, so I probably won’t bring home the gold medal, but with how much fun I’m having… who cares?
Rolling Stirling Hart on beautiful Grouse Mountain
Ever have one of those weeks you never want to end? I am in absolute heaven. The day on Grouse Mountain was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. A day of log rolling, good friends, sunshine, and a beautiful mountain… great memories were made. Of course all of the guys kicked my butt log rolling (it was a coed competition) but thanks to a great win by JR, team America took the title on Canada Day. :) After the contest Brian and I had a great run to the peak (talk about burning lungs!) then we slid down the snowy mountainside in our running shoes. I was sun burnt (opps) and playing in the snow… too much fun!
That night Jody, the producer of the Grouse Mountain show, hosted a killer party for the lumberjacks at his beautiful house. The evening was filled with great conversation, singing around the campfire, a mean steak on the grill, and some hot tubbing. I crashed early, but from what I hear those guys got pretty crazy later on. Drunk lumberjacks getting crazy? Unheard of.
Once we got the hung-over birthday boy (JR) up and ready (by around noon) I dropped him off at Grouse and headed over to watch Jason cross the finish line on stage 5 of the BC Bike Race. I had to hop a ferry over to their finish line and while on the ferry got a call that he had already finished. Good news for him, but I was bummed I missed it! I basically turned around on the same ferry with the cyclists and got to hear exciting stories of crashes, cramping, and downhill giggling. We then had a beautiful drive on the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish. I got to observe first hand the craziness of a bike race as large as this one. Hunting for the right bag out of hundreds of identical ones, the sprint for a perfect tent, sorting through piles of sweaty jerseys, and selecting the perfect amount of gels and bars were all part of the insanity. Luckily I had a car and was able to wisk (steal) Jason away from his friends. My fitness diet took a back seat for an evening and we had an incredible dinner with an even better view. We then went to visit world champion 24 hour cyclist Chris Eatough and joined him and the Trek gang for some crazy waterslide action. Yes folks, I got to play on a waterslide with some of the hottest and best mountain bikers in the world. Life is good. Early to bed so the boys could continue their insanity early the next morning.
Jason getting ready to kick some ass in Squamish
Cycling folks are all absolutely amazing. Everybody at the bike race was so kind and welcoming to me, and even though I had no clue what was going on, they took me in and made me feel like part of the gang. After the race started, I went with a group of them up into the mountain to watch the guys pass at several different points. This also involved a lot of hiking with the most incredible views. In fact, the last time I saw anything this beautiful was when I hiked in Canada 12 years ago. It was great finally getting to see Jason do his thing, and really hold his own among the world’s top mountain bikers. BUT once again I was lollygagging and missed his cross at the finish line. This once again is a good thing because it means he had a killer time, but I was still extreamly disappointed to miss it. Guess I’ll have to go to another race…
After good byes, I drove back to Vancouver to meet up with my lumberjack folk. God I love these guys. We’ve only been on the road to Washington for a few hours, and I’ve already laughed to the point of needing the restroom about five times. Tomorrow we compete in Longview. Against the guys again, so I probably won’t bring home the gold medal, but with how much fun I’m having… who cares?
1 Comments:
Glad you could be there to see the hoopla. Thanks for the support!
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